Sermon
April 6 2014 Sermon –- I Am The Resurrection! Do You Believe?
Ezekiel 37:1-14
Then
he said to me, “ Mortal, these bones are the whole house of Israel…..
O
My people, I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will
place you on your own soil; then you shall know that I the Lord, have spoken
and will act, “ says the Lord.
At
the core of biblical narrative is the story of Displacement – of having
wandered a long way from home, and long to return. This is the underlying plot of being cast out
of Eden, of being foreigners in Egypt, of the journey to the promised land, of
the longing of exiles in Babylon to return to the land of their fathers.
I
heard this quote this week.
Or where we find ourselves today with the
anger and bitterness of country folks
just wanting to have a happy church listening to the
Word and doing small missions in the community. The
monster of a world-wide organization, full of egotistical,
self-centered ladder-climbers does not fit into our
scheme of things. And yet, we are required to support
that very same system in which we don't believe nor
understand.
just wanting to have a happy church listening to the
Word and doing small missions in the community. The
monster of a world-wide organization, full of egotistical,
self-centered ladder-climbers does not fit into our
scheme of things. And yet, we are required to support
that very same system in which we don't believe nor
understand.
Psalm 130 UMH 848
Out
of the depths I cry to you, O Lord. Lord
hear my voice!
How
did we get so caught in the web?
Economists
write of a ‘deepening” recession; diplomats warn of a “deepening” crises;
therapists see patients who are “deeply” depressed.
We
are waiting. Watching and praying for
things to get better and they seem to get worse.
I
wait for the Lord, my soul waits, and in his word I hope: my soul waits for the
Lord.
Romans 8:6-11
Our
hope can be seen in Paul’s words. : If Christ is in you….the spirit is alive
because of righteousness. This same
spirit that dwells in you is the spirit that raised Jesus back to Life.
6 For the mind set on the flesh is death,
but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7 because the
mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to
the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 8 and
those who are in the flesh cannot please God.
9 However, you are not in the flesh but
in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does
not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. 10 If
Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is [a]alive because of righteousness. 11 But if
the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised
Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies [b]through His Spirit who dwells in you.
John 11:1-45
17 So when Jesus came, He found that he
had already been in the tomb four days.
21 Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if
You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 Even
now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” 23 Jesus *said to her, “Your
brother will rise again.” 24 Martha
*said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last
day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he
who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will
never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She *said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed
that You are [f]the Christ,
the Son of God, even [g]He who
comes into the world.”
.” Martha, the sister of the
deceased, *said to Him, “Lord, by this time [j]there will
be a stench, for he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus
*said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe,
you will see the glory of God?”
He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus,
come forth.” 44 The man who had died
came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around
with a cloth. Jesus *said to them, “Unbind him, and let
him go.”
When your plants look like they are dying….you add water,
miracle grow or something to revivethem.
When your car battery is dead….you buy a new battery.
When you realize that you are dying spiritually you add
the Word of God.
As Christians, we believe in the power of resurrection…
Resurrection and life are central to the meaning that we
make for our lives.
Resurrection confronts us as an urgent call, beckoning us
to consider the possibility that those whom our world deems, socially,
physically, spiritually, and emotionally dead might live into a new reality.
We pray for the power of resurrection in the lives of
persons and communities bound by the graveclothes of war, genocide, poverty,
disease, dis-ease, systematice abuse and systemic oppression.
Releasing persons and communities from the clutches of
death also demands something of us.
Though Jesus called Lazarus from the tomb, he urged those
who were alive and well, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
Resurrected women, men, and children today also require
caring communities that are willing to nurture and strengthen them until they
are able to walk alone;
to remove the graveclothes of self-doubt, social
isolation, marginalization, and oppression; to tear away the wrappings of fear;
anxiety, loss and grief, so that unbound women, men , and children might walk
in dignity and become creative agents in the world.
We see communities dying around us. We see churches and institutions dying around
us.
What can we do?
Believe in the true Resurrection of Jesus Christ. He is the Resurrection
power that we need.
This
same spirit that dwells in you is the spirit that raised Jesus back to Life.
Think about that.
The
one that Moses faced at the Burning bush gave the following as His name:
I
am that I am.
Jesus
told Mary: I am the resurrection. Do you believe this?
Jesus
is the resurrection of life. Jesus brings life. Do you believe? Amen
Hymn
of Reflection UMH 467 Trust and Obey
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